


Danganronpa - Cancel Code

by kirumiz



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Other, danganronpa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirumiz/pseuds/kirumiz
Summary: Ana Kamiya, a tailor from a bustling city, wakes up in an isolated room. In that room, she's given a choice. Give up now and surrender to whoever has captured her, or play in the mastermind's game. What will she choose? Will she make it out alive?
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

-Welcome.-

I woke up at the sound of the computerized voice. 

-Welcome.- 

The voice repeated itself again. I sat alone in a stone room, and I was seated at a set of metal chairs and a table. Instead of a person sitting in front of me, a large television was mounted to the wall. 

The television in front of me turned on. A smug woman with long blue hair started to speak. I could not see her eyes, just her nose, lips, and the bottom rim of her glasses. 

“Hello Ana. I have a simple task for you.”

“Task?” I asked myself. I didn’t even know where the hell I was, and now I had to do something to appease my captors? I don’t remember how I got here. I want to go home.

“Fine.” I said. “What are my choices?”

“Life or Death.”

“Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter?”

I chuckled. There’s no way this is real. 

“Y’know what? Death. I’m feeling fun today.”

“Choice noted. Since you’ve chosen death, what lengths would you go to to ensure you do not meet death?”

“Lengths?”

“Murder? Betrayal?”

“I’ve never been in a position where I needed to think about that. I guess it would depend on the situation. 

“I see. Well then,” The blue-haired woman said. “You’ve made the correct choice. You’re cut out for our program. Good luck.” 

The woman smirked, and the television turned off. 

\-------------------------------- PROLOGUE BEGIN ----------------------------------------

I woke up lying on a soft bed. The room was different from the stone one I woke up in before. This one had pale yellow walls, a soft bed with a blanket, a bookcase, a wooden desk, and a wooden chair. A small sewing kit rested on the seat of the chair. The air felt tense. It felt like something dangerous was coming, but I couldn’t remember what that danger could be. It felt far away, but so close you could feel it seeping into your heart. Nothing has made me shake so badly before. But then again, I’ve never been so uncertain before. 

I stepped off the bed to find a note on the floor. It read: 

“Dear Ana Kamiya,

You’ve been selected to participate in our new research program. The study aims to research human emotions under extreme pressure. Your memories have been wiped for this experiment. You’ve also been given a role that suits your everyday talents. You are the Ultimate Tailor. Good Luck.”

“Tailor?”, I said to myself. Sure, I know how to sew and mend clothes, but that was just a side job I had in high school. It’s not like I was talented. 

I suddenly heard the click of a lock. The door that trapped me inside the room swung open. Then, I started to hear voices outside. 

“Hey, I think I see someone!” A small boy with a mask said. “That would make 16 of us, right?”

“I don’t know why you’re so excited.” A tall, black haired woman said. “They’re just one more stranger we can’t trust.” 

I left my room and closed the door behind me. I surveyed the room. It seemed to be a lounge, complete with pale blue walls, white sofas, and glass coffee tables. There were 15 people, excluding me, and they all seemed to be around my age. I know I should introduce myself to some of them, but I can’t help feeling overwhelmed. Then, a short, curly-haired girl and a man with an eyepatch walked up to me. 

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you! What’s your name?” the curly haired girl said. “I’m Mei Izumi.”

“H-hi. Ana Kamiya. Nice to meet you, Mei.”

“And I’m Hajime Kubo.” The eyepatch man said. “Pleased to meet ‘cha. 

“What’s your ultimate?” Mei said. “I’m the Ultimate Botanist!”

“Ultimate Guitarist.” Hajime piped up, waving his hand. 

“Tailor. I’m not especially talented, though.” 

“Sure you are! I wouldn’t worry about it. None of us seem especially talented.” Mei said. 

“You.” a dignified voice called from behind me. I turned around to see the tall, black haired woman from before. “Come with me.” She grabbed my arm and led me to one of the room’s couches. 

As I sat down on the couch, she asked for my name. 

“Um. Ana. Ana Kamiya.”

“Ultimate?”

“Tailor…?” 

“Did you wake up in a stone room before you arrived here?”

“I did.”

“Did a woman ask you to make a choice? What did you pick?”

“I was asked to make a choice. But I’m a bit embarrassed by my answer, so I won’t say.” 

“I see. Thank you. I advise that you go meet everyone else. We all seem to be in the same boat here…” 

“Okay. Who are you, then?” I asked. I figured it was a fair question because she had just interrogated me. 

“Ichika Shimizu. Ultimate Surgeon. I hope we get along.” Then she walked away, her high heels clicking on the tile floor. 

I stood up and looked around the room for someone to talk to. I saw a slender boy with a large scar on his face standing in the corner. I smoothed my skirt out and went over to talk to him. 

I put out my hand. “Hi. I’m Ana Kamiya. Ultimate Tailor. You?”

He looked down at my hand, but did not extend his own. “Roku Yukimura. Ultimate Exorcist.”

My eyes went wide. “An exorcist? That sounds interesting. What’s that like?”

He stared at me blankly. “I don’t like to talk about it. I believe our introduction is over now. Goodbye.” He walked sluggishly to the next corner of the room. I guess he’s not a people person. He also looks like he hasn’t gotten any sleep lately. I turned on my heels to see two people directly behind me. 

“Hey sleeping beauty! Took you a while to wake up, eh? Name’s Nick. Nick Gallagher.”

“Ana Kamiya. What’s your talent?”

“I’d hardly call it a talent. But apparently I’m the Ultimate Electrician. You?”

“Ah. Ultimate Tailor.”

“Cool.”

Then, the girl standing to his right butted in. “Hiya! I’m Lana Ito. Ultimate Pyrotechnic.”

“Pyro… so you work with fire?”

“Work” is a… generous term. I think they just gave me that title because I accidentally started a forest fire once. Don’t ask. Anyway, you said you were a tailor? Are you actually good at that?”

“Um, well, I had a job at a tailor shop in high school.” I looked down at the floor. “And I used to um… make my own cosplays… so…” 

“You cosplay? Dude, that’s rad. I love horror anime and manga. We should talk sometime!”

“S-sure. Yeah.” 

“Alright, pack it up, anime club. We’ll see you later, Kamiya.” Nick said, with a click of his tongue and finger guns. 

“Bye!” I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment to collect myself. I still don’t know where I am, and none of these people have any more information than I do. 

“Boo!” a voice said from behind me. 

“Wah! God- don’t scare me like that. U-um. Who are you…?”

“Oh! Sorry.” The person said. “I’m Kanaya Satou. Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist!” They said with a beaming smile. “And youuuuuu are?”

“Ana Kamiya. Ultimate Tailor.” 

“Like Taylor Swift? She’s part of the Illuminati, y’know." They said, adjusting their glasses. "Everyone is, whether we know it or not… Hey, do you think the illuminati could've trapped us here?” 

I mentally rolled my eyes. “I- I doubt it. I doubt that the “Illuminati” even exists. Anyway, nice meeting you…” I walked away as fast as I could, before bumping into a group of three people. 

“Wah! I’m sorry!” I yelled. A short person with chopped, jet black hair stared at me intensely. 

“It’s fine. You can get up now.” They said. I helped myself up as they declared; “My name is Emilio Hayes. Ultimate Hacker.” 

A short boy to their left piped up. “I’m Miko Suzuki. Ultimate Thief!” Miko wore a black mask, but you could tell he was smiling underneath it. 

“Hey, why are you wearing a mask? It’s not really dusty in here…”

“Oh, my immune system doesn’t work very well. I wear a mask to prevent getting common sicknesses. I take it off when I’m eating, though.”

“I see.” I looked to the girl on Emilio’s right. “And you are…?”

“Kiyo Kohana! Ultimate Ghostwriter.” She extended her hand. “And you are Ana Kamiya, Ultimate Tailor?”

“Yeah… Could you really hear that far away?” I said, shaking her hand. 

“No. I was just eavesdropping. Haha! Hope ya don’t mind!” She said with a wink.

“It’s fine. Nice to meet you all.” I said, walking away from their group. I could feel Emilio staring into my back as I moved away. There were five other people I needed to meet, and they were separated into groups of two and three. I approached the group with a pink haired person, a girl with two-toned hair, and a boy with bangs that covered his face. 

“Hi.” I extended my hand to the person with pink hair. “Ana Kamiya. And I’m the-”

“Ultimate Tailor!” The boy with bangs said. “Sorry. Kinda overheard that other conversation. Kohana’s kind of loud.” 

“Don’t worry about it. Who are you guys?” 

“Aha! I’m Sakura Fujiwara. Ultimate Candymaker!” They said with a big smile. I noticed their teeth were jagged and sharp, almost like a shark’s.

“Oh, I’m Skipper Verona, Ultimate Engineer. But you can just call me Skip.” the boy said.

The girl with two-toned pigtails spoke up from behind the other two. “Anzu Watanabe. I’m the Ultimate Puppeteer!”

“You all seem to have really interesting talents. What experience do you have?” I said.

“Ah! I made candies and sweets all the time at home. My father owns a bakery, so I practiced making candy there.” Sakura said, still smiling with her jagged teeth. 

“I dunno.” Skip mumbled, looking down and kicking at the ground. “I used to work at an auto parts place, and I’m pretty good with computers, I guess.”

Anzu placed both of her elbows on the shoulders of the other two. “I make puppets and sell them online. I guess I got pretty good at it after a while.” She said.

“Cool. Nice to meet you all.” I said, walking away. They all seemed very sweet, but I’m not sure that’s the attitude they should have in this situation. I looked around the room. The last group of people was a girl wearing a lot of jewelry and a boy with curly brown hair. I took a deep breath and walked over to them. 

“Hi. I’m Ana Kamiya.” I said, extending my hand once again. “Ultimate Tailor.” The girl wearing jewelry extended her hand. She wore long, red nails and a few golden rings. When she spoke, she had the smoothest voice I’d ever heard. 

“Naya Pohana. Ultimate Jeweler.” She said, with a wink and a slight smile. I blushed slightly and turned to the curly-haired boy. He chuckled and shook my hand. 

“Ryan Cruz. I’m the Ultimate Songwriter.” When I shook his hand, I realized how callused his fingertips were. He probably plays a string instrument in addition to writing songs. I turned to Naya once again. 

“Wow, so did you make all the jewelry you’re wearing?” I asked her.

“Some, but not all of it. I make jewelry, but most of my job is declaring the authenticity of jewels for other clients.” She looked down at the rings she was wearing. “But I will say the job pays pretty well, which is how I can afford most of this.” 

“Ah. Okay.” I said, turning to Ryan once more. “So, do you perform and write songs?”

“I mostly write. I do play bass, though. But I don’t have anyone to perform with, really…” He said, eyeing his untied shoelaces. 

All of a sudden, a shrill voice came over a loudspeaker system that I didn’t know existed. “Attention, everyone! Please make your way down the hallway to your left and assemble in the gymnasium. I’ve got a veeeery important announcement!” Then the loudspeaker clicked off. 

“God, what the fuck was that voice? Are we gonna have to listen to that all the time?” Kiyo said. 

“I’m hoping we won’t need to stick around long enough to find out.” Emilio said, twirling a piece of their hair. With that, the rest of the party fell silent and walked down the hallway to the gym.


	2. Prologue Part 2 (Prologue End)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: mentions of death, knives.

I stared down at my shoes as I walked along the hallway. The tile underneath my feet seemed new and clean, but the atmosphere of this place didn’t feel fresh. It felt lonely and unforgiving. 

I bumped into the person behind me as we all reached the door. 

“You sure like bumping into people.” a voice said from behind me. I recognized it as Emilio’s. 

“I guess. Sorry…” I said, turning around to face the door. I heard Emilio scoff from behind me. 

The large wooden doors swung open to reveal a gymnasium. The floors were clean and polished, and the room smelled of cleaning materials rather than sweat. My shoes squeaked on the floor as I walked inside. I noticed a small podium resting on the stage. I also noticed there were no windows or other exits. Once everyone filed in, the doors to our only exit slammed closed. 

Then, a loud drum roll started to play. 

A small mouse catapulted out from behind the stage, and landed gracefully on the small podium. When it started to speak, I recognized its shrill voice. 

“Howdy, everyone! I’m so glad to see you all made it!” the mouse said. “I’m your loooovely headmaster, MonoMouse!” Anzu tapped me on the shoulder and whispered into my ear: “Hey, is that mouse talking? Do mice talk where you’re from?”

“They don’t.” I whispered back. 

“Ey! You two in the back!” the mouse squeaked. “Shut up!” The mouse cleared its throat. “Anyway, I’m sure you’re all curious as to where you are and why you’re here. The first question will be answered with time, but I can give you the answer to the second right now!” The mouse started to laugh maniacally. 

“Okay?” Ryan said. “Can you spit it out, then? We’re all really confused.” 

“I’m especially confused on how a mouse could be our headmaster…” Skip piped up. 

“Not one for theatrics, eh? Ehehehe...! Well then, I’ll tell you! You’re all going to be participants in my killing game! Ehehehe!”

“I’m sorry, a killing game? What sick joke are you playing?” Lana asked. 

“It might be sick, but I’m not jokin’!” The mouse laughed again. 

“You’re fucked up, man. Get us out of here!” Kiyo yelled. 

“Get out, you say…?” The mouse tilted its head. “Well, there’s a way that can be arranged.”

“WHAT?!? Spill.” Kanaya said, stomping her foot on the ground.

“All you’ve got to do… Is kill someone! Anyone! Any way! It’s all up to you! The only catch is-“

Emilio walked to the front of the room, and pulled a small, black knife out of their waistband. “Alright. Who’s gonna take one for the team?” The room fell dead silent. 

“Uhm, you didn’t let me finish there. The catch is-”

“I said, who’s taking one for the team? Someone better step up before I decide on my own.”

“YOU CAN’T GET CAUGHT!” MonoMouse yelled into the microphone. 

“O-oh. I see. Apologies, everyone.” Emilio walked to the back of the room, shoving their knife back into their waistband. Everyone eyed them suspiciously as they made their way to the back of the room.

“Annnyway. A class trial will be held to ensure that the murderer either gets away with it, or meets their punishment.” MonoMouse explained. 

“W-what exactly does “Punishment” entail?” Miko asked. 

“Oh, nothing major. Just the bloodiest executions you’ve ever seen!”

“I’ve never seen an execution…” Miko said, tears welling up in his eyes. 

“You will!” MonoMouse winked. “If you’re not the first to die, of course!” Miko started to cry. Lana put her arm around his shoulder and gave him a hug. 

“We’re gonna be okay, Miko. We’ll find another way out.”

“R-really?” Miko said, through tears. 

“Y- Yeah. We will.” Lana said. We all knew she was trying her best to be comforting, but she didn’t believe her words. 

“Oi! Stop staring at Sob-Story over there. Look at me!” The mouse said. “I didn’t groom myself this well for nothin‘!” Our attention turned to the front of the room again. “Now then,” the mouse continued, “any death that happens here will be treated as a murder, with the exception of dying from sickness. Even a happy accident could be traced back to a killer!” 

“That’s… rather unfair. What if the culprit doesn’t know that they did it?” Naya asked. 

“We’ll… see about that.” MonoMouse squeaked. “Well, that’s your orientation! I hope you have a horrible rest of your day!” The large wooden doors opened behind us. “Oh! I almost forgot. You’re allowed to explore the first floor to your heart’s content. But if a door is locked or a stairway is blocked off, it will only open up after a class trial is held. That means, a murder! Ehehehehe!” The mouse squeaked, and scrambled off the stage. “Bye bye now!” It said, before diving behind a stage curtain. 

We all stared at each other blankly. Where were we supposed to go from here? Our future seemed so bleak and uncertain. And worst of all, we couldn’t trust each other any longer. We silently filed out of the gym, and back into the main lounge. I sunk into the nearest couch and stared blankly at the floor. Ichika suddenly rose from her seat and started to pace around the room. The click of her designer heels was the only thing that filled the silence. Then she stopped, and faced the rest of us. 

“I’ve got a plan.” She declared. 

“Oh yeah?” Kiyo said. “We gonna beat the mouse up or somethin’?”

“No. If any of you bothered to search your pockets, you would find a cell phone that is not yours.” We all dipped into our pockets, and found the phone she was talking about. It was small and sleek, with a black-and-white case. Everyone’s phone seemed to be identical. “In the rules section of this phone, you’ll find that bringing any harm to the headmaster will result in swift punishment. And we now know what that entails.” She said, eyeing a still sniffling Miko. “So, I’ve devised a different plan.” 

“Which is…” Mei groaned, slumping down in her chair. 

“We’re going to fake someone’s death.”

“Yeah, that won’t work. The mouse bastard can probably hear us right now.“ Emilio said.

“Do you see any cameras or microphones in this room?” Ichika said, adjusting her glasses. 

“God, you’re stupider than you look. But okay, explain your plan.” Emilio said, folding their hands over their crossed legs. 

“Alright. We’re going to split up into groups and search for areas without cameras that lead directly into areas with cameras. We will stage an argument in the first area, so that it will be heard in the second area. Then, we’ll stage a murder when the headmaster comes looking for us.” She said, proudly. I thought it was a good enough plan, but the headmaster had to have some way of seeing us in each room. I wasn’t confident it would work, but I guess it was worth a shot.

“Not to be that guy-“ Nick started to speak. “But there’s so many ways to hide cameras and microphones. The headmaster definitely heard all of that, if they were paying attention.”

“Maybe so. But that plan is all we’ve got. So, who’s in?” Ichika said, looking around the room.

All of us raised our hands, except for Roku, Emilio, and Kiyo. 

“Fine.” Kiyo said. “But if anybody actually dies, I’m not taking the fall for it.” 

—————————— PROLOGUE END.—————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hrrrrm Kiyo are you onto something


	3. Chapter 1 - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning - First victim is revealed at the end of the chapter. NO blood/gore.

“So be it.” Ichika said, walking toward one of the doors we hadn’t opened yet. A soft click echoed through the quiet room as the door opened. On the other side of the door, there was a large room that looked like a cafeteria. There was a door in the back that probably led to a kitchen. 

“You think the food in there’s safe to eat?” Lana asked. 

“If we’re supposed to kill each other, I doubt the mouse would make the food do it for us.” Roku said. Lana ran into the kitchen in search of snacks. 

“Ummm…” Anzu started to ask, inspecting one of the dining room chairs. “All of this stuff looks brand new. What was the budget for this place? What presumably evil organization has that much money to blow on this “experiment”?”

“The government.” Kanaya said, with dead eyes and a straight face. 

“They might have a point. The cops would’ve been here by now, or the military or something…” Nick said, crossing his arms. 

“Did any of you bother to read your notes?” Naya said. “We’re apparently here for an experiment of human emotions under extreme pressure. None of us are gonna die.” She stretched her hand out in front of her and checked her nails. 

“Do you think any of us would agree to something that included a “Killing Game”?” Emilio said. 

“I dunno, you seemed ready to go back there.” Mei said. “Can’t believe you were ready to take one of us out so quickly.”

“And what would you have done?” Emilio retorted. “Stood there? Staring at that fucking mouse? At least I had a better chance of getting us out of there than this stupid plan. Or so I thought.” They made their way to the doorway. “Any of you are welcome to come explore with me. And don’t think of this as a dividing gesture. It’s not. I’m already getting sick of you people, but I don’t wish to cut ties.” Kiyo eyed the rest of us before making their way to Emilio’s side. Everyone in the room stared at her, puzzled. 

“What?” She said. “If we run into something, they’ve got a knife. I’m safer with them than with the rest of you.”

“Y-yeah…” Miko mumbled. “But they’ve got a knife. And you barely know them… such a blind trust…” 

“Whatever. I’ll holler if they try to gut me like a fish, ‘kay?” Kiyo laughed, and skipped out of the room with Emilio. We all stared at each other as they closed the door. 

“Come on now, stop staring at each other and search this place!” Ichika yelled. We all started to search the cafeteria. I found a few bags of chips and some baking materials before I came across the silverware drawer. When I opened it, I found forks, spoons, and five steak knives. I made sure no one was looking before sliding one of the knives into my pocket. I felt safer knowing I had something to defend myself with. But was I really prepared to kill someone with it? I didn’t want to answer my own question. I continued to search the kitchen before Roku came up behind me. 

“ I saw that.” He whispered. “And so did Anzu. Watch out.” My blood ran cold. Did he think I was going to kill someone? Would he and Anzu suspect me if someone did die? My worries were interrupted by a loudspeaker announcement.

“Helllllllooooo Folks! Just lettin’ ya know it’s 10 PM. I would advise returning to your rooms alone. The dining hall closes in 15 minutes. Good niiiight~!” The mouse said. I started to loathe the sound of its voice. 

“So, should we just have that as a curfew? Y’know… so nothing happens at night…” Hajime said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Yes. No one may exit their rooms until tomorrow morning. Good night, everyone.” Ichika said, before returning to her room. I walked slowly out of the dining room, and back into the lounge. Anzu ran up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. 

“Sooooo… What were you planning on doing with that?” She said, tapping my right pocket. “Y’know, if anyone else saw ya do that, they could easily frame you. Not too smart!” She smiled at me and bounced away. I suppose she was a little smarter that I had previously thought. I reached my room, and noticed that nameplates had been added to the doors. Lana’s room was on my right, and Ichika’s was on my left. I walked inside and locked the door behind me. This room felt strangely comforting, with its soft yellow tones and warm atmosphere. But it still didn’t change the matter at hand. I quickly went to sleep. 

—————————— DAY 2, CHAPTER 1 ———————————

“GOOOOOOD MORNING, FOLKS!” The loudspeaker screamed. “It is now 8 am. GET UP!” 

I heard a knock at my door. Still groggy, I walked from my bed and opened the door. On the other side stood Miko, who was holding an apple. 

“H-Hi! I um, didn’t know if you were coming to breakfast, so… I brought you an apple… Do you like apples? I’m sorry if you don’t! I can get something else if you-“

“Stop.” I said. “An apple would be great, thanks.” I took the apple from his hands. Lana exited her room.

“Oi, Miko! Let the girl get dressed. “Miko, Miko, Move it” to the dining hall. She said, doing a little dance. “I’m sure she won’t take long.” Miko started at her silently.

“What was that dance thingie…?”

“Did you not get the joke?” She sighed. “Let’s go.” I closed my door when they started to walk away. I let out a sigh and stared at my bedroom. I hadn’t spent much time here yesterday, so I thought I would take a look around. I opened my closet door to reveal seven identical outfits to the one I wore yesterday, including socks, shoes, and accessories. There was also a bathrobe and three sets of pajamas. I closed the closet door and entered the bathroom. Toiletries like toothpaste, a toothbrush, and soap all seemed to be provided. The shower looked clean and spacious. The room reminded me of a nice hotel room. I guess that was their way of reminding us our stay here likely wouldn’t be permanent. I quickly got dressed and exited my room, locking the door behind me. I walked alone to the dining hall. I noted a few closed doors on my way there. If they aren’t locked, they’re areas we need to explore. I arrived at the dining hall, and was greeted by a few somewhat-familiar faces. Mei walked up to me first. 

“Hiiii Ana! Nice to see you!” She flashed a big smile at me. Mei seemed really sweet. I was hoping she was doing alright emotionally, though.

“Hey, Mei. How are you?”

“Best I can be in a situation like this. I found a candy bar in my room, though, so I guess that’s nice.” I made a mental note to search for candy in my own room. “Anyway,” she began. “Come eat! Roku made pancakes!” I was surprised to hear that Roku wanted to do anything for the group, or that he even showed up to breakfast. I guess he’s friendlier than I thought. I sat down at the table next to Skip. 

“Hi, Skip.” I said. “What’re you doing?” 

“Oh! Hi. I’m trying to see if I can get games on this phone-thing. I just wanna play some Roblox, man…” He said, slumping down in his chair. Then, he suddenly sprung up. “Hey, do you think Emilio would be willing to help? They’re a hacker, right? They could probably do that.” He stuffed a pancake into his mouth. Then, with his mouth full, he said, “She yma lamterm!”. I interpreted that as “See you later” as he ran out of the room. Mei slid into the seat Skip left vacant. 

“So? Do you like the pancakes? I suggested blueberry but Roku was pretty insistent on regular pancakes.” Mei asked. Roku sat down in the seat across from Mei. 

“I heard my name.” He said. “Anyway. Kamiya, how do you like the food? I can make you something else if you’re not satisfied.” 

“It’s great, actually. Where’d you learn to cook?” I asked. 

“I’ve lived in a ministry for most of my life. Cooking was the only thing that seemed to keep me sane. I got pretty good at it after a while.” He said, adjusting his glasses. 

“I see!” Said Mei. “Hey, I saw some doors that we didn’t open yesterday on my way here. We should go check them out.” 

“Sure.” Roku said. “Just let me clean up this kitchen. I doubt the mastermind does dishes, too.” Roku stood up from his seat and walked to the sink.

“Oh! Let me help you.” I said, standing up from my chair. I gathered the unused utensils to put them back in the drawer. I noticed there were no knives on the table, and there were none in my hand. I opened the drawer and noticed that all the steak knives were gone. Who else would have taken them? What did they plan on using them for? I guessed they had the same idea I did- self defense. I returned the silverware to the drawer and continued to clean the kitchen. 

“Are you guys done yet?” Mei groaned, slumped over in her chair. 

“We’re just about done.” Roku said. “Would’ve gone faster if you had helped.”

“I see.” She said, while standing up and pushing in her chair. “Anyway, there’s two rooms on this floor that we haven’t checked out yet. Let’s go.” Roku and I rushed to meet her at the door. We continued down the hallway silently. The sound of our shoes against the tile floor filled some of the silence, but didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. We reached the first door, which was wide and made of iron. Surprisingly, the door was thin and didn’t take much effort to open. 

“Woah, is this a warehouse?” Mei said, her voice echoing through the large room. 

“I believe so. I’m going to see if they have anything useful in here.” Roku said, walking toward a pile of unopened crates. I looked around the room. There seemed to be boxes of extra food and clothing, medication, and toiletries, as well as sporting goods like pool tubes and shot put balls. I wondered if there was anything in here that could be used as a weapon. There were no guns, but there was a wall of swords and knives. Except, one sword was missing. 

“Let’s go check out the other room, guys! I’m kinda getting bored in here… I did find swimsuits in here, though! Maybe a pool will open up!” Mei said excitedly. 

“Yeah, but if the pool isn’t the next room, someone will need to die before that happens.” I reminded her. 

“R-right.” Her gaze met the floor. “Well. We should get going, anyway.” We left the room and closed the iron door behind us. Then, we were met with a familiar face in the hallway. 

“Greetings, everyone.” Ichika said. “Have you found any spaces here that could fit our plan?” We all shaked our heads “no”. 

“I see. Well, I’ll call you all to the dining hall once we figure something out. It’ll either be tonight or tomorrow morning. Someone has agreed to work with me on starting the “argument”.” She waved her hand and started to walk away. “Goodbye for now, everyone.” 

Once she had left, Mei asked us; “Who do you think agreed to work with her?” 

“I’m not sure. I have zero confidence in her plan as it is.” Roku said. As we continued along the hallway, my thoughts immediately went to Miko. He seemed like a bit of a pushover. It wasn’t long before we reached the second door. 

“Miko, maybe?” I said, opening the door. On the other side, there was a laundry room. The tile floor seemed to be spotless, and the washing machines looked brand-new. I wondered- who could have the money for this, and enough power to keep it all under wraps? 

“This soap smells pretty good.” Mei said, unscrewing the caps of all the detergents. Roku looked over at what she was doing, and did a facepalm. I inspected the room, but didn’t find very much. Then, I felt a small bug crawl onto my hand. I screamed, and fell over.

“Find some scary soap?” Roku laughed at his own joke and walked over to me. “Ah. An ant. Very scary.”

“Wait, but does that mean there’s a way out? A slightly loose door? An unlocked window?” I said. 

“Most likely planted by the mastermind to give us false hope.” Roku said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “I doubt they’d go through all that just to have us find an open window.”

“I guess you’re right.” I said. We continued our search through the laundry room, but didn’t find anything of note. We decided to go our separate ways for the rest of the day. I returned to my room, but shortly after I arrived, I heard a knock at my door. 

“Hey, Kamiya.” The voice said. “C’mon out for a second.” I cautiously opened my door, and saw it was Naya. 

“Oh, hey, Naya. What are you doing here?” I said. 

“Hajime and Ryan are playing some music in the lounge. They sound pretty good together, actually. But anyway, just wanted to let you know in case you’re up to hang out.” 

“That sounds nice, actually. I’ll be there in a second.”

“Cool.” She said, as she flashed a gentle smile. “See ya.” I closed the door behind her as she walked away. I sighed to myself. I hoped I wasn’t wasting time by having fun. But there’s not much else to do here. I just hope I don’t get too close to the wrong people. I collected myself again and went out to the lounge. 

“Hey, Ana.” Ryan said, waving. “Come sit.” I sat down in the spot he gestured to. 

“So, were you planning on teaching Hajime one of your songs?” Naya asked. 

Ryan looked at her, and went a bit pale. “Uh, no… Most of the things I’ve written are pretty personal. Actually, I’m not sure how these people knew that I was a songwriter at all. I’ve never told anyone.” He said. 

“I used to play in a band.” Hajime began. “But it never really went anywhere, and I used a stage name the whole time. Most of my friends didn’t even know about it. So I’m not sure how they knew I could play guitar.” 

“Hm, so then it probably wouldn’t make sense for this to be a government experiment…?” I said. 

“The government knows more about us than we think. But even if this is an experiment, what made us more special than another group of random people?” 

“Maybe it was just that. We were randomly selected, and then the data was collected.” Ryan said. 

“But if this is an experiment, wouldn’t we have to consent to be part of it? And why would they need to erase our memories?” Hajime said.

“Maybe they lied.” Naya said. The room went quiet. We sat there for a while, and Hajime strummed a few chords. Ryan scribbled a few things down in a notebook. 

“Where the fuck are we?” Hajime said, suddenly. 

Naya laughed. “Million dollar question.” 

I returned to my room after sitting in silence for a while. It was draining, being around people all day. I wanted nothing more than to be alone for a while. I searched my room again. I didn’t find a candy bar like Mei did, but I did find some fruit snacks. I like those better anyway. I assumed that our plan would go into motion tomorrow morning, because Ichika hadn’t called us to the dining hall yet. I quickly changed into pajamas and went to sleep. 

I awoke to the annoying voice of the mouse.

“Good Morning, everyone! It’s another beautiful day! Get out there and DO SOME KILLING! Ehehehe.” I got out of my bed and slowly started to get dressed. I eyed the steak knife that I had left on my dresser. I hoped I never had to use it. Once I was done, I walked out into the hallway and locked my door. It seemed eerily quiet. I walked to the dining hall, but I was not prepared for what was to come. Everyone was crowded in the back of the room, facing the freezer. 

“Ah… Ana. Just… Come look…” Skip said. I walked past everyone else. I stood in front of the freezer. 

And I saw the cold, dead body of Ichika Shimizu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were you expecting that? hahahah


	4. Chapter 1 Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW - descriptions of hypothermia, Slight bruises from combat

————————— INVESTIGATION START!————————————  
“Ehehehe! A body has been discovered!”

A few more people filed in after the announcement. We all stood there silently. I think most of us expected someone to snap, but not this soon. I noticed that Miko was starting to tear up again. 

“But I… I was supposed to help her today. That’s all she wanted to do. She wanted to do her best to help us.” He said. “Whoever did this- you’re a monster!” He screamed, and ran out of the room. 

“Alright, now that crybaby’s gone, we can start investigating.” Emilio said. They walked inside the freezer. “Does anyone know how to do an autopsy?”

“You won’t be needing that!” MonoMouse said, bursting through the door. “It’s theeeeee~ MonoMouse file! Have fun now kiddos! Good luck, you’ll need it! Ehehehe!” 

I snatched the file from the rat. I read the following information out loud. “The victim is Ichika Shimizu, the Ultimate Surgeon. 5’10, 145 pounds. Blood type - A+. Dark black hair, purple eyes. The cause of death is hypothermia. Small bruises from a thin object line her left arm. No other injuries.”

“What’s the time of death?” Hajime asked.

“It’s not listed.” I said. 

“That means it’s important.” Emilio began. “I’m going to search her room.” They walked out of the room, leaving the rest of us to our own devices. I put the file on a nearby table and walked into the freezer. If no one else was going to search the crime scene, I guess it had to be me. I touched Ichika’s hand. It was ice cold. By the temperature, I could tell she had been in there for a few hours. But she wasn’t totally frozen, so she likely hadn’t been there all night. 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Time of Death” HAS BEEN ADDED.-

I started to inspect the area around her. I saw slash marks on some of the items in the freezer, and marks on the door. The marks on the door looked like scratch marks, like she was trying to claw her way out. But, the marks on the frozen goods were caused by a blade of some sort. Could this be the same object that caused the bruises on her arm?

-TRUTH BULLET: “Slash Marks” HAS BEEN ADDED.-  
-TRUTH BULLET: “Scratch Marks” HAS BEEN ADDED.-   
-TRUTH BULLET: “Bruises on Arm” HAS BEEN ADDED.-

The slash marks could have been caused by a missing steak knife, but the blade didn’t seem to be long enough. I remembered that the warehouse had a few different types of weapons. I thought a sword fit the item’s description best. Then, I remembered that one of the katanas had gone missing yesterday. If I can figure out who took it, I could probably find the killer. 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Missing Katana” HAS BEEN ADDED.-

I was about ready to leave the dining hall when I heard a drawer open. 

“Umm… Guys? Where’s all the knives? I’m tryin’ to cut a bagel here and I’m not seein’ any.” Kiyo asked. My blood ran cold. Would I be suspected if they knew I had a knife?

Anzu stood up from her seat. “The knife holders are Hajime, Lana, Nick, Naya, and Ana. I saw them all take them when we were exploring.” She said proudly. 

“Snitch.” Nick hissed. 

“That’s, observant, I guess.” Lana said.

Hajime started to sound nervous. “I-I just wanted to be safe! I didn’t do anything!”

“Yeah, whatever…” Naya said.

“Thanks, Anzu.” I said.

“No problem!” She smiled. 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Knife Holders” HAS BEEN ADDED.- 

I made my way to the door. I didn’t notice Mei sneak up behind me. 

“Hey, Ana.” She said. She sounded almost scared of me. “You weren’t actually gonna use that knife, right?”

“I asked myself the same question. I couldn’t bring myself to answer it.” I responded. She went quiet for a minute. 

“You’re going to the warehouse, right? She asked.

“Yes. You’re free to come with me if you want.” 

“Okay.” She continued to follow me. When we arrived at the warehouse, we ran into Skip and Sakura. 

“Did we have the same idea?” Sakura laughed. 

“Yeah.” I said, before stepping inside with everyone else. I headed straight to the back of the room where the swords were held. I noticed the sword that was missing yesterday had been returned, and was a little banged up. 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Sword’s Condition” HAS BEEN ADDED.”-

“What are you holding that for?” Skip asked.

“I think this is important to the case. This sword was missing yesterday, and look at its condition now. It’s pretty obvious it was the thin object described in the file.” I explained. Mei walked up behind me.

“I can confirm that was missing yesterday.” She said. 

“So, who could’ve gotten to the sword before you guys?” Sakura asked. 

“Well, Kiyo and Emilio separated from the group early on the first day. But anybody could have gone in here after that.”

“I saw Ryan and Hajime come in here on the first day. Maybe ask them if they noticed it was missing?” 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Sakura’s Account” HAS BEEN ADDED.-

“That’s great information, thank you!” I said, putting the sword back. “We should go ask them now.” 

“Skip and I were going to look around here for any other clues. We’ll catch up with you guys later.” Sakura said, waving goodbye to us. Mei and I left the room, closing the door behind us. We found Ryan and Hajime talking to each other in the lounge. 

“Hey! Can we talk to you guys for a minute?” I asked. 

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” Ryan asked.

“I heard from Sakura that you and Hajime went into the warehouse on the first day.” I said. 

“Oh, uh, someone saw that…?” Hajime said, looking a little embarrassed.

“Apparently so. Did you notice a missing sword?”

“I did, actually. Should’ve been a katana, right? That’s the only type of sword I saw.” Ryan said. 

-TRUTH BULLET: “Ryan and Hajime’s Account” HAS BEEN ADDED.-

“Yes! Thank you.” I said. “I’ll leave you guys alone now.” Mei and I walked away from them. She nudged my side. 

“Hey, do you think they made out or something? Hajime looked suuuper embarrassed.” She said, giggling. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” I said. Then, we heard the same chime we had heard when Ichika’s body was discovered. 

“Ehehehe! It’s time for the class trial! The large red door at the very end of the hallway has been unlocked. It is mandatory to attend the class trial. See you soon!” The mouse said.

I looked at Mei, and let out a long sigh. “We’re going to be alright. We’ll catch the killer. We’re getting out of here alive.” I said.

“I-I hope so.” She said. Then, we began to walk to the large red door. By the time we reached it, everyone else was already gathered. We looked around nervously. I saw that Ryan and Hajime were holding hands, and realized Mei was clinging to my side. I couldn’t imagine what must be going through the killer’s mind right now. Not that I had any sympathy for them. 

“Alright, everyone! Please board the elevator in front of you.” The mouse said. We did as we were instructed, and began a long, quiet ride underground. It felt like years had past when we reached the bottom, even though it had only been a couple of minutes. We stepped out into a room with trial stands, and a large red seat. In that seat, sat our headmaster.

“Welcome, welcome!” It said. “Find the stand with your name on it and stand on it. I noticed Ryan and Hajime were next to each other, and were still holding hands. I found my stand, next to Lana and Anzu. “This is the class trial room. I wish you all the best of luck!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ryan x hajime rightz


	5. Chapter 1 - Class Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight gore warning for the execution. No blood.

————— CLASS TRIAL ONE - START! —————

I looked around at my classmates. Most of them looked nervous, and others seemed to be spaced out. Then, Emilio spoke up. 

“Alright. First, Let’s talk time of death. Then alibis.” They said. 

“Well, none of us heard anything going on, so it probably had to be at night.” Naya said.

“Right, but then why would Ichika and the killer be out of their rooms?” Mei asked.

“Maybe it was early enough for the earlybirds to be awake, but normal sleeping hours for the rest of us.” Sakura suggested. 

“Ichika definitely seemed like the type to wake up early. And she was looking for places to act out our plan, so it would make sense for her to get up early.” Skip said. 

“Nah.” Kiyo said. “She was in there before then. She clearly locked her self in the freezer! It happened after dinner, before we all went to sleep.”

— TRUTH BULLET: Time of Death —

“She wasn’t frozen solid. Her body had likely only been in there for a few hours.” I said. 

“So then she definitely woke up early…” Ryan said. 

“Yeah, but who could’ve known that for sure?” Nick asked.

“Maybe someone who never went to sleep? Some of you have some maaaajor eye bags.” Anzu said. I looked over at Lana, who seemed to be tired. 

“What? You’re gonna suspect me because I’m tired? I can’t get a wink in this place! I’m worried sick.” She said. 

“And your room was close to Ichika’s, right? You could’ve heard her leave.” Anzu continued. 

“Actually, Lana was in my room last night. And the night before.” Nick said. Anzu eyed him suspiciously. “But don’t get the wrong idea! We’ve known each other for a long time. We’re best friends. Our memories are wiped too, but we remember each other for some reason.”

“Why’d you wait until now to mention that?” Emilio asked.

“We thought it’d come off as sketchy if we were the only two people that knew each other. Like, you’d think we were the masterminds or something.”

“That’s a valid concern, I suppose. Alright, now that we have a good idea of the time frame, let’s work out who could have known that Ichika woke up early.” Roku said. 

“Um, I might be able to help! I couldn’t sleep very well last night, so I was looking through my room. While I was doing that, I heard two doors open. One was farther down the hall, and one sounded like it was next door.” Miko said. 

“That’s super useful!” Kanaya said. “Who’s rooms are next to yours?”

“Kiyo is on my right, and Roku is on my left.”

“Huh? Are y’all fuckin’ accusing me of murder because of where my room is?!” Kiyo yelled. 

“N-No! I was just… giving what information I had.” Miko said. 

“Uh huh. Anyway… I was in my room all night. Sleeping.” Kiyo said.

“Okay. And Roku? Your alibi? I’m assuming the other door belonged to Ichika.” Emilio said. 

“I was asleep at the time. I don’t wake up until 6:30.” Roku said. 

“Alright. Seems we’ve got a liar. There’s no reason to lie here.” Emilio said. “Unless of course,” They smirked and brought their index finger to their lips. “You’re the killer?” 

“I’m not fuckin’ lying. Since we can’t figure this out, should we just move on to something else?” Kiyo said. 

“Okay, what about the murder weapon?” Skip asked. 

“Probably one of the people with y’know, a knife?” Anzu said, twirling her hair. 

“So then the suspects are anyone with access to the kitchen.” Emilio said. “Way to narrow it down.” 

— TRUTH BULLET: “Knife Holders” —

“No, the only people who had a knife were Nick, Lana, Naya, Hajime, and myself.” I said. 

“Good! So that narrows it down!” Kanaya said. 

“So, is that the murder weapon?” Mei asked.

Emilio scoffed. “No. God, you’re all more foolish than you look. Does anyone with a brain want to explain why there is no murder weapon?” Emilio said. 

“I can.” I said. 

— TRUTH BULLET: “Scratch Marks” —

“Ichika was still alive when the freezer door was locked. It’s evident that the scratch marks on the door are from her, and are not the result of a struggle. She may have been coerced into the back of the freezer, but she was not killed by any weapon.” I said.

“Hmph. Very good.” Emilio said. 

“Okay, so then what explains the slash marks in the freezer?” Hajime asked.

“Yeah! If it wasn’t somebody with a knife, how did they do it?” Anzu asked. 

—— NONSTOP DEBATE ——

“It was a skewer from the kitchen! Easy-peasy!” Lana said. 

“Or a set of throwing stars!” Miko suggested. 

“Scissors?” Nick said with a shrug. 

“A ninja sword!” Kanaya said. “HIYA!”

“A katana, you mean?” Roku said. 

“That’s it!” I said. 

— TRUTH BULLET: “Missing Katana” —

“It had to be a katana. A katana went missing from the warehouse on the first day. It’s the only weapon I can think of.” I explained. 

“Please. All of those swords were in pristine condition. How could they be used for murder?” Ryan said. 

“All of them?” Sakura asked. “You sure?”

— TRUTH BULLET: “Sword’s Condition” — 

“The sword was returned to the warehouse after the murder. The culprit probably didn’t want to get caught with it in their room. But, it was pretty banged up. It was definitely used for something. So, that’s most likely the weapon that made the slash marks, and caused the bruising on Ichika’s arm.” I explained. 

“Okay then. We find who took the sword, and combined with our other evidence, we’ve got our killer.” Naya said. 

“Right. So then, who took the sword?” Mei asked. 

Emilio started to laugh. “Well. I believe the answer’s right in front of you. As long as you’ve talked to the right people.” They turned to me. “Which, Kamiya, I think you have. Care to solve this for us?” I stared at them, puzzled.

“I guess I can try.”

“Good.”

“Alright, so the first people to visit the warehouse were Kiyo and Emilio. After they had left, the sword was likely gone.” I said. 

“How do you know?” Naya asked.

“Well, while Mei and I were investigating, we talked to Sakura, who let us know that Ryan and Hajime had visited the warehouse before nightfall on the first day. So, we went to talk to them.” 

Hajime’s cheeks turned pink. Ryan gave him a nudge. I continued speaking. “They told us that the sword was already missing at that time. So that means…” 

“I think you’ve got it.” Emilio said. Kiyo’s face went deathly pale.

“Since Emilio already had a knife, and Kiyo was defenseless, it would make more sense for her to take it. This was also the only time she could’ve taken it without anyone else seeing her. Except for, of course, Emilio.”

Emilio chuckled. 

“Wait, you knew it had to be her! This entire time! Why didn’t you say anything?” Mei asked. 

“Well that wouldn’t be fun now, would it?” They laughed again. “I would have stepped in if you all proved to be total buffoons. But I think you all did a nice job.” 

“But then… Kiyo, it was you. You killed her, didn’t you?” I said. Kiyo was speechless. She looked around the quiet room for a minute. Then, she started to speak. 

“Y-yeah. But I didn’t mean for this to happen… Ichika and I got into a fight. We both woke up early this morning, and I was stupid enough to bring the katana with me. I was going to put it back, because I didn’t want to get in trouble for having it. She saw me, and got on my case about it. I took it out of the sheath to show her I didn’t kill anyone, and she ran into the kitchen. She must have thought I was threatening her. As I walked into the kitchen, she ran into the freezer and closed the door.” She said, before she was interrupted. 

“Wait, but if you weren’t threatening her, how did the slash marks get all over the freezer?” Mei asked. 

Kiyo started to cry. 

“I-I lied. Again. I’m sorry. I just wanted to go out with you guys still liking me somewhat. I did threaten her. I was worried she’d tell everyone I tried to kill her. No one would trust me again. I-I’d be alone. And to me, that’s a fate worse than death.” 

The room was silent for a minute. 

“But, um, I couldn’t bring myself to kill her. So, I just locked her in the freezer and ran away. But now that I think about it, that must have been an awful way to go. I- I can’t believe I subjected someone to that.” She said, wiping away her tears. “I returned the katana and went back to my room. It was so hard to pretend I wasn’t a part of this. I knew I couldn’t survive without killing the rest of you. Am I really... that… selfish?” Kiyo collapsed on the floor and began bawling. The rest of us stood at our podiums, taking in the situation around us. 

I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to comfort her? Or was comforting a murderer morally wrong? 

Emilio broke the silence in between her sobs. “Kamiya. Recap the case. Make sure everything makes sense.” He looked at Kiyo. “And then… We’ll vote.” 

“Alright. I’ll do my best.” I said. 

— ACT 1 —  
Kiyo and Emilio split off from the group. They visit the warehouse, and Kiyo takes a katana to her room. 

— ACT 2 — 

Kiyo leaves her room early with the katana. She plans to return it to the warehouse. She runs into Ichika on the way there. Ichika gives her a hard time about her possession of the sword. Kiyo unsheathes it to prove she hasn’t used it against anyone, and Ichika gets frightened and runs into the kitchen. 

— ACT 3 —   
Kiyo meets Ichika in the kitchen, and Ichika runs into the freezer. Kiyo follows her, and makes a few slashes with the sword. She cuts some of the items in the freezer, but not Ichika. However, she injured Ichika’s arm. Kiyo panics and runs out of the freezer, leaving Ichika locked inside. It seems that Ichika scratched at the lock to get out, but did not succeed. Ichika dies of hypothermia in the freezer. Kiyo runs into the warehouse and returns the sword. She runs back to her room and meets the rest of the group in the kitchen a few hours later. 

“That’s it.” I said. I looked at Kiyo, who was still sniffling on the floor. I felt bad condemning her, but it was for the greater good of the group. 

“Ehehehe! That was great, everyone. But, It’s PUNISHMENT TIME!” Kiyo started to wail once again. 

“I-I don’t want to die. I’ve never gotten a chance to live. I’ve always been a tool for someone else. God, even my fucking Ultimate reflects that. It sounds sad, but this morning was the first time I’ve ever been alone to make my own decision. And I fucked up. I just fucked everything up. I’m sorry. Really, I am.” She said, before starting to cry again. 

“I just have one question. What was your motive? The mouse didn’t give us anything.” Nick asked. 

Kiyo stared at the floor for a while. Then, she started to speak. 

“My reputation. And the trust of all of you.”

“What?” Naya said. “You knew you’d get caught, right?”

“Well, yeah. But I couldn’t let myself be labeled as violent and untrustworthy. By doing what I did, I had my reputation until the very end.” 

She wiped away her tears and said; “I’m ready. Start the punishment.” 

“Aha! Not yet! It’s time to show everyone your choice tape! Did you pick life, or death?” The mouse said with an evil smile.

The tape began to play. It featured Kiyo in the same stone room I woke up in, and the same blue-haired woman on the screen. 

“Kiyo.” The tape began. “What will it be? You just have to choose.”

“Fine. Death. If it’s the only fuckin’ way out of here. I’ll do whatever. As long as the person dying isn’t me.”

We all gasped, even though that was the answer I expected.

“I see. You’re fit to be here.” The woman said. “Good luck.” The television turned off, and so did the tape. We all stared at Kiyo.

“Let’s begin the execution for Kiyo Kohana: the Ultimate Ghostwriter! Ehehehe!” The mouse jumped on to a big red button. 

A long chain descended from a hidden passageway, and grabbed Kiyo by her neck. Suspenseful music started to play as she dragged into the back room. The chain guided her to a wooden chair. Shelves of books sprang up around her. 

EXECUTION - FAHRENHEIT 451 - KIYO KOHANA, ULTIMATE GHOSTWRITER

MonoMouse, dressed in a firefighter costume, tied Kiyo to the chair. She started to struggle. She seemed like she had accepted her death in the trial room, but it was clear that was just a facade. Kiyo seemed like the type of person who could keep her cool, but her emotions made her indecisive and unkempt.

Instead of putting out a fire, the mouse set the library ablaze. The fire was wild and beautiful, but it was disturbing to think about what it was destroying. Fire never thinks before it acts. Just like Kiyo. A horrible smell started to fill the air. It smelled like burning hair, and decomposing human flesh. We all held our noses and looked away from the fire. 

KIYO KOHANA - STATUS: EXECUTED.

We silently filed back into the elevator. No one said a word as we walked back to our rooms. I locked my door and took a shower, but I couldn’t shake that horrible smell. I wondered what other horrors this place would make me endure. I know I’m not ready for it. 

CHAPTER 1 - Welcome to Despair - FINISHED

STUDENTS REMAINING - 14/16 

MASTERMIND STATUS - Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really could not think of an execution <3 this was the best i could do I’m sorry kiyo


	6. Chapter 2 Daily Life Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No TW for this chapter! Enjoy.

— CHAPTER 2 START —

Chapter 2 - Jigsaw Puzzles, Jealous Prisoners 

None of us could look each other in the eye the next morning. I can’t imagine we got any sleep, either. It’s hard to see someone die and pretend like everything’s normal the next day. I still couldn’t get that awful smell out of my head- that awful, burning, smell. 

I looked around at the rest of the group. As a whole, we looked disheveled and neurotic. The room was still quiet, despite the number of people in it. Although, I could understand why no one wanted to talk. 

Emilio stood up and surveyed the room. They pushed in their chair and slowly walked to the front of the room. They began to speak. 

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Everyone looked at them.

“Good. Now I’ve been thinking. How do we keep ourselves from committing murder? How do we keep the entire group safe?” There were a few mutters among the group, but no one spoke up. 

“We get rid of the need to kill. We get rid of our motivations, and we don’t give into desire.”

Roku piped up. “But isn’t a desire to leave our only hope right now?” 

Emilio stared at him. “Have you realized what I’m trying to say yet?” They closed their eyes and let out a sigh. They were about to explain themselves when a loud announcement cut through their words.

“Ehe! Everyone, please gather in the gym for a veeeery special announcement!” MonoMouse said. Then the monitor clicked off. Emilio did not continue with their speech, and instead walked out the door. Everyone else slowly got up from their seats and followed them.

We arrived in the gymnasium. We gathered near the stage, where the mouse was waiting. I noticed a stack of envelopes next to it. 

“Welcome, welcome! I bet you’re all eager to see what I’ve got planned for you!” The mouse said, with an evil smile on its face.

“Yeah. But- ” Ryan said. “We’re not playing your game anymore. No one else is going to die.”

“You’re a funny one!” The mouse said. It leapt off the stage, taking the envelopes with it. “Anyway, I’m giving you a motive to kill.”

“What?! There’s no way we’ll fall for that!” Mei said, with a little quiver in her voice that made her seem so much less confident. The mouse passed envelopes out to everyone.

“Inside those envelopes, is a secret. Two, actually. One belonging to a random member of the group, and your own. So, seek out the person who knows your information. Then, get rid of em’! Ehehehe!” I tore open my envelope.

The first secret in my envelope belonged to Nick.

“Nick Gallagher has had feelings for his best friend for many years, and has learned to live with the fact that she will never love him back in that way.”

Woah. That must really suck. I looked farther down the paper. 

“Ana Kamiya does not remember most of their childhood.”

Damn. How did they even know that? That isn’t information I usually give out. But it wasn’t enough to get me to kill. Would this get to someone else, though? I hoped not. I wondered if there were secrets out there that are far worse than the ones I received. I was most curious about who received mine.

A few people looked scared, and some were embarrassed. Hajime appeared to be shaking, and Nick’s face was bright red. 

“Guys, we can’t let these secrets get in our way. S-some... of them aren’t even that bad.” Naya said.

“Exactly. SOME.” Lana said.

“Alright. Why don’t we just read them aloud now?” Emilio suggested. 

“I don’t want to do that…” Miko said.

“Secrets are secret for a reason, you dummy!” MonoMouse said, smacking Emilio’s head. “Anyway, I’ve opened up new parts of the school. These are the items you’ll need to unlock those areas!” The mouse handed us an iron key, a keycard, and a small plant. 

“I call the plant!” Mei said, running to the front of the stage. She picked it up and ran out of the room. Roku ran after her.

“I’m taking the key.” Emilio said. “Someone come with me, please?”

“Why don’t we divide into groups?” Lana suggested.

“Fine.” They said.

“Okay. Anzu, Ana, Naya, Ryan, Nick, and Hajime will come with me. I’ll take the keycard.” Lana said.

Everyone else filed out of the room with Emilio, leaving the aforementioned group.

“All right!” Lana said. “Let’s go!”

The group traveled silently to the new staircase. As we walked up it, I noticed it didn’t creak at all, and the steps were shiny and new. Had this whole place really been built just for us?

We reached the second floor. There was a door with a key reader to our immediate right.

“I’m gonna try using the card here.” Lana said. She swiped the card, and a loud click echoed through the hallway. The door swung open. MonoMouse was waiting for us inside.

“Welcome, welcome! You’ve unlocked the locker rooms, and the swimming pool!” The mouse said.

“Woah! A pool? Awesome!” Anzu said.

“Yes. The locker room on the right is for the girls, the left for the boys, and the middle one is gender neutral. They are unlocked with your student handbooks. Feel free to use these rooms to your heart’s content after you’ve unlocked the rest of this floor!” The mouse popped into a vent on the wall and scrambled away. Then, we heard footsteps running down the hall. 

Mei popped her head in the door.

“Guys! I found a greenhouse! It’s super cool, come check it out!” She said, before running back down the hallway. We all ran out of the room behind her. I looked down at the ground where I was running. The floor was spotless, and no tiles appeared to be loose or cracked. What kind of abandoned building was so well kept?

We reached the greenhouse door as Mei opened it. The entire ceiling was made of glass, and a bright blue sky was visible. There also appeared to be a shed in the back of the room, and a few garden areas. 

“All the food in the garden is safe to eat, I think.” Mei said. “There’s not much in the shed, but you can check it out if you want.”

I walked to the shed. The shed seemed to be older than everything else in this school. The door has creaky hinges, and the wood it was made of seemed slightly rotten. I’m surprised it was still standing. Inside the shed, there was a lawnmower, a bag of fertilizer, and a chainsaw. I quickly exited the shed for fear it would collapse on top of me. 

“Guys!” Kanaya burst through the greenhouse door. “We found something!”

Emilio popped their head through the door. “It’s a library. No need to rush.”

We decided to leave the greenhouse and check out the library. 

The library was fully stocked with books. There were a few desks with antique lamps spread throughout the library. Skip popped his head out from behind a bookshelf. “Hey guys! Look, I found a computer while you were gone!” He said.

“What? Let me see that. I’m a hacker, you know!” Emilio said, sliding into Skip’s seat, knocking him to the floor in the process. “What’s the password?” They asked him.

“Ow…” Skip said, rubbing his side.”

“Ow” Doesn’t work. What’s the password?” Emilio asked again.

“Ow isn’t the password you dumbfu-“ Skip said, his voice trailing off into a mutter.

“Aren’t you a hacker, Emilio? Can’t you figure out the password?” Naya said.

“I am. But this device- It’s archaic. There’s no wifi or internet, from what I can see right now. There’s not even a HDMI port or a place to charge it.”

I thought for a minute. Why give us a device that will die in a few hours? Unless…

“It’s single use.” I blurted out. Everyone turned to look at me. “You know, it’s here to relay a message or a clue, and then it’ll shut off so we can’t program it to connect to the outside world.” Emilio lowered their head back down to the computer.

“It just unlocked. Whatever you said, it must have contained a verbal password. Most of the keys on this thing don’t work, and the microphone seems to be on.” They said. “There’s a file on this thing. That’s all that’s on here.”

“Open it!” Skip said, still on the floor. 

Emilio clicked on the file. A woman with blue hair, silver glasses, and piercing blue eyes popped onto the screen. Then, she began to speak. 

“Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far. Every time you clear a class trial, I will leave you a clue. This clue may reveal why you’re here, where you are, or something that may help you escape.”

We all looked around at each other. Was she kidding?

“That being said, your first clue.”

The room fell silent. 

“God is among you.”

The screen clicked off. We looked at each other again.

What the hell does that mean?

—— FREE TIME EVENT SEGMENTS ——  
—— Nick - FTE 1 ——

We had left the library and returned to the lounge. Some people had gone to their rooms, and some were sitting and talking. Nick however, was alone. I walked up to him and took a seat. 

“Hey.” I said. 

“Um, Hi.” He said.

He looked a bit nervous. Maybe he was worried about who got his secret in the motive this morning.

“I um-“ I began to say, “I know. I got your secret. So you don’t need to worry about… her finding out.”

“O-oh. I see. Um, keep that a secret for me, will ya? It’s not something I’d kill over, I just… don’t want things to be awkward.” He said, his eyes downcast.

“I understand.” 

“Well, since you told me about the secret you got, should I tell you the one I received?” He asked.

“If you want to.”

“It’s Sakura’s. Apparently they’ve never been on a date, or asked anyone out.”

“Well that’s not so bad.” I said. “Some people just aren’t into that.”

“Right? Why do some people get harmless “secrets” while the rest of us get things that are really important?”

“It’s probably part of the motive.” I said. Nick looked at me, confused. “You know, set some people out as targets. People with more to hide will get jealous of them, and they’ll take them out.”

“Oh. You’re pretty smart.” He said, with a small laugh. “Well, I’m going to take a nap. Sleeping clears my head sometimes.”

“Okay. See you later, then.”

I walked away from the couch. I think I got a little closer with Nick today.

—— Nick FTE 1 - Completed —— Hope Fragment Obtained ——

I walked to the kitchen. Hajime was sitting alone at the table, eating an apple. I walked up to him and asked if he wanted to talk.

— Hajime FTE 1 ——  
“Sure. Sit down.” He said, while chewing. I pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

“So, how are you?” I asked.

“Alright, I guess.” He took another bite of the apple. “Good as I can be in a place like this.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“What made you start playing guitar?”

“Oh!” He perked up a little bit. I guess he likes talking about his talent. “I had a friend that got me into it. She was in a band, and she needed an extra on bass for a gig. I was the only person available, so she taught me the basics. I picked it up pretty quickly. My parents never approved of the noise I made while practicing, though. Haha!” He seemed to be more cheerful now.

“What about you, Kamiya? Play any instruments?”

“Ah, no. I did band as a requirement in school, but I was never any good.”

“That’s alright.” He said, getting up from his chair to throw the apple core away. “Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I think I’m going to go to bed. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Alright.” I said, waving goodbye as he walked out the door. I think I got to know Hajime a bit better.

— Hajime FTE 1 - Completed — Hope Fragment Obtained —`  
I think it might be good to take a nap myself.

I walked to my room, and I noticed no one was in the lounge anymore. I opened the door, and locked it behind me once I was inside. I quickly changed clothes and settled into bed. But I couldn’t get one thing out of my head.

Who is “God”? And why are they among us?


	7. Chapter 2 Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW; very minor drug reference

—— DAY 2, CHAPTER 2 ——

I woke up to the sound of banging on my door. I slid out of my bed, still half asleep. I opened the door to see Nick.

“Hey, Kamiya. You didn’t come to breakfast, so I came to check on ya.”

Shit, did I oversleep? I glanced at the clock in my room. It was 8:15, and way past the time breakfast started. “I’ll be down there in a minute, just let me get ready.” I flashed a smile and closed the door. After I heard it click shut, I let out a sigh. I glanced at my closet. I wondered why our captors provided us with identical sets of clothes. Was it to keep up appearances? Who was looking at us anyway?

I made my way to the dining hall and sat down, hoping no one would realize I snuck in late. I took out the phone MonoMouse gave me. A new map of the second floor had been added. I looked up from the phone to see Emilio sliding into the chair across from me. 

“Hey.” They began. “I don’t want to make this look suspicious, but could you follow me for a second? I wanted to talk to you.” I nodded, and followed them out of the room. We walked all the way to the warehouse before they began to speak. 

“What did you think the computer meant? When it said “God is among you”?” They asked.

“Why are you asking me?” I said.

“Because I like you.” 

“Oh really? I see.” I laughed. 

Their face went red. “N-not like that! God. I mean- you’re less aggravating than the rest of these cretins. I feel like I can trust you for some reason.”

“Oh. But I’m not sure why the computer said that. Sorry.” I started to walk away. 

“Wait!” They grabbed my arm. They looked around to see if anyone was around. 

“I have an idea.” They whispered. “There’s probably a traitor. A mastermind hiding among us.” 

My entire body turned cold at those words. “Are you joking?” I whispered back.

“Why would I be? I don’t have any reason to lie to you.”

“Well, alright.” I sighed. “Don’t tell anyone about this. They nodded. We walked back to the cafeteria, only to see Roku and Mei spying on us from around the corner. They ducked their heads behind the corner of the wall, but we could still see them from our angle. 

“We see you.” Emilio said, approaching the corner.

“Aha! What? We were just walking by! We didn’t see anything! Right, Roku? Haha!” Mei said, nudging Roku in the side. 

“Ow… Mei, why are you even trying…? They saw us. Sorry for spying on you guys. We just saw you walk out of the cafeteria together and we wanted to make sure everything was okay.” Roku said. 

“It’s fine.” Emilio said, walking back to their room. 

“So, what was that about?” Mei asked. I decided to withhold some of the details of our conversation. I didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility that Mei or Roku could be the traitor, but I had to at that moment. 

“We were just talking about what we found yesterday. The computer thing. They wanted to know if I had any more information.” I said.

“Oh. Okay!” Mei said. “I didn’t get to finish my breakfast, so I’m going back inside. Coming, Roku?”

“Yeah. See you later, Kamiya.” Roku said.

I walked back to my room and closed the door. I thought about who the traitor could be. Ichika and Kiyo were ruled out for obvious reasons. The most suspicious person was definitely Emilio, but they wouldn’t put the fact that there’s a traitor out there. So who else did that leave me with? I decided to put those thoughts away and find someone to spend time with. 

— FREE TIME START! — 

“OI! Kamiya! Come here!” Kanaya yelled from the cafeteria. I ran down the hall to find them carving a face into an apple with a knife. “Ya like it? Too bad it’s poisonous! Genetic engineering will kill ya, y’know!” They turned the apple around to reveal a jack-o-lantern face. 

“It’s uh, great.” Should I ask Kanaya to hang out? Well, we’re already talking, so I guess it’s okay.

“Thanks!” They took a large bite from the back of the apple. “So, what’d you think of that pool? I kinda wanna go swimming.” They said. 

“I’m not doing anything right now. Want to go to the pool?” I asked.

“Hell yeah!” Kanaya bolted out of the cafeteria and scrambled up the stairs. “Sonic SPEED!” They yelled, attracting the attention of some other people sitting in the lounge. Once we reached the pool and changed into swimsuits, we saw Naya, Hajime, and Ryan squirting each other with water guns in the shallow end. We swam for a couple of hours before going our separate ways. 

— Kanaya FTE 1 Completed — Hope Fragment Obtained — 

I took a shower and changed into new clothes after swimming. Then, I decided to take a walk through the greenhouse. It wasn’t as refreshing as going outside, but it was as close as I was going to get. I passed the library, and noticed that Miko and Sakura were talking quietly. Once I saw Emilio sitting in the corner reading, I understood why their voices were so hushed. I continued my walk to the greenhouse. 

I arrived to find Mei and Roku digging around in the garden. Well, Mei was actually studying the flowers while Roku was digging around in the dirt with a stick. Mei must have heard me walk in. 

— FREE TIME START! —

“Ana! Wanna hang out in the garden with us?” She asked. 

“Yeah, sure. What are you guys doing?” I asked. 

“Well, I’m trying to categorize every species of plant in here, and Roku’s doing-“ She looked over at Roku, who was still doodling in the dirt. “Uh, something. Oh, that reminds me! I need to get my notebook so I can write all of this down. I think I left it in the shed. I’ll be right back!” She sped off toward the shed. 

I crouched down next to Roku. He didn’t seem too interested in plants, unless some lettuce needed exorcising. “What are you doing?” I asked him. 

“Drawing an alchemic circle.” He responded.

“Like the anime…?” I asked. 

“Aha! No. It’s for magic.” He smiled.

“You know magic?” I asked, a bit intrigued. Roku seemed like a pretty serious guy, so I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

“I’m an exorcist. The definition of my talent varies based on personal belief. It’s the same with magic.”

“Do you believe in magic?” I asked.

“That’s subjective.” He said, continuing to draw in the sand. “Some people consider life to be magical.”

“Do you?”

He did not respond.

Mei came back with her notebook. We looked at the plants for a little while, before I got bored and went back to my room. 

— Roku FTE 1 Complete — Hope Fragment Obtained — 

I was relaxing for a little while, sewing pieces of fabric together to practice my stitching. Then, I heard a knock at my door. I opened it to find Emilio.

“Can I come in?” They said. 

“Yeah.” They quickly came inside and closed my door.

“Do you have any idea who the traitor could be?” They asked. 

“I haven’t given it much thought. I don’t… really want to think about it.” I said, my eyes downcast. 

“I see. Alright then. Let me know if you see anything suspicious.” They turned to leave. 

“Wait!” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Why are you talking to me about this? I haven’t done anything to make you trust me.” 

“You did pretty well at that last trial. I don’t think you have any reason to lie.”

“And what makes you think I trust you?” I asked. That probably hurt to hear, but I was genuinely curious.

“Hah. You’re too trusting, Ms. Kamiya. I can tell if you trust me from the look in your eyes.” They then left my room.

Did I trust them? I didn’t know myself.


	8. Day 3, Daily/Deadly Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW - Blood, Dismemberment, Decapitation

I’ve started to dread waking up every day. I’ve become hyper aware of how hard my mattress is, how bland my breakfast tastes, and how each conversation feels the same. We’ve only been trapped here for a few days, but it feels like life has been sucked out of everyone. 

I got up earlier than I normally do. I got dressed, and decided not to go to breakfast today. I was getting bored of the routine, so I went up to the library instead. The halls were cold and quiet, and I could hear my footsteps as I walked through them. The sound of my footsteps on the stairs could’ve easily woken someone up, but no one ventured out of their rooms to investigate it. I arrived at the library, and noticed a light was still on in the back of the room. I also heard faint whispering.

“No, that wire goes ther- Ugh, just give it to me. For an engineer, you’re rather incompetent.”

“Jeez, sorry! Here-“

I peeked behind the bookshelf to find Emilio and Skip tinkering with the computer we had found a few days earlier. Emilio and Skip immediately looked up from the computer.

“Oh, hi Ana. Um, what are you doing up so late?” Skip asked.

“It’s 6 in the morning. What are you doing up so early?” I responded.

They looked at each other for a moment. Skip immediately got up, mumbling something about losing sleep over a stupid computer, and ran out the door. Emilio remained seated.

“So neither of you slept all night?” I asked.

“Apparently not. Would you like to come with me to get a coffee?” They asked. 

I nodded. They packed up the computer and its supplies, and stood up from their chair. 

“Why don’t you just keep the computer in here?” I asked.

“I can’t trust the mastermind won’t take it away if I leave it here. I sleep with it under my pillow.” They said.

“Ah…” Sleeping with a case as thick as that under your pillow sounds uncomfortable. We walked in silence to the cafeteria. It was probably about 6:15 now, and everyone seemed to be asleep. The cafeteria was dark and quiet, but for some reason I didn’t feel scared. Without warning, Emilio flicked the lights on and began rummaging through the cabinets to find mugs. I sat down at one of the tables. 

“Did you find anything on the computer?” I asked.

“No. I’m dismantling it. I don’t want it to blow up or something. Or maybe there’s a clue inside.” They said, pouring the coffee. “Do you want sugar?”

I nodded. They brought the coffees over to the table and sat down. 

“I’m not an expert on computer parts, so I had Skip help me. I feel bad for keeping him up all night though.”

“He’ll be fine.” I said, sipping my coffee. “Oh, I was wondering something.”

“What?” Emilio said.

“A few days ago. When you called everyone’s attention in the dining hall and said that to keep everyone safe, we needed to shove away our desires to leave. Then Roku said that the hope of leaving was the only thing keeping us going. And then you asked if we realized what you were trying to say.”

“Ah. I was hoping you would’ve gotten that.” They took a sip of coffee. “I meant that we’re going to lose more people if we continue to hope for a way out. Our only way to escape is to sacrifice someone else. And even worse, we’re all dead if the culprit gets away with it. So, in short, we’re all only going to survive if we all lose hope.”

I stared at them for a minute. I took a long sip from my coffee. “Why do you think that way?”

Emilio was quiet for a moment. 

“I’ve always had to.”

For a while, we were both silent, acknowledging our unshared backstories. I wondered what had happened to them, what made them so untrusting. I know it’s not my place to ask. 

Soon after, people started to trickle into the dining hall. Roku was the first, followed soon after by Mei, Sakura, and Miko. Kanaya doesn’t usually come to breakfast, and I assumed Skip would be sleeping in late. 

Most of the class had arrived at 7:30, except for Ryan, Hajime, Skip, and Kanaya.

Eventually, Naya piped up and asked; “Hey! Anyone know where Ryan and Hajime went? They’re usually part of the earlier crowd.”

Kanaya laughed. “Maybe they’re hav-“

“Shut it Kanaya. I’m getting worried, does anyone want to come look for them with me?” A few people raised their hands, including me. We left the cafeteria, and started looking around the lounge. I decided to look upstairs, since there was already a few people trying to break into their rooms.

But as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I heard a scream. I ran the the end of the hallway before another scream rang out, coming from the greenhouse. I cautiously opened the door, and was hit with the heavy smell of blood. It was overpowering, almost like I was in a slaughterhouse. The flowers looked untouched, but the shed had an overwhelming negative aura surrounding it. I stepped closer to the shed, only to find Ryan passed out from shock. I assumed he was the one that screamed. Naya and Mei burst through the greenhouse door. 

“We heard a scream!” Mei said.

“What the fuck happened?” Naya said. “Is that Ryan? Is he dead?”

“No. He’s… passed out.” I said, opening the door to the shed. 

I was not prepared for what was on the other side.

Inside lay a full garbage bag, with blood leaking out of it. I stepped closer to the bag, and despite everything in me telling me to leave it closed, I opened the bag. 

And I saw Hajime- No, Hajime’s head- staring back at me. 

I had learned the bag was now a body bag, even though the body was not together. 

I took a few steps back, and Naya stepped into the shed as the bag fell to its side. 

“W… what the- fuck…”

“Ehehehe! A body has been discovered!”


	9. Chapter 2 Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for blood, dismemberment, and decapitation. One part of the investigation is skippable if you are sensitive to these topics. a basic description is provided after that section so you still know the important stuff. :)

— Investigation —

I looked back at Naya, who’s eyes were filled with pure horror and shock. She slowly backed away from the shed’s entrance, and rushed to Ryan’s side. Ryan started to move a little bit, and opened his eyes. 

“Where am… am I in the greenhouse? Oh no- Where’s Hajime? HAJIME!” Ryan scrambled off the floor and into the shed. 

At the sight of Hajime’s head, he said; “No.. Please, god… Why’d it have to be him? Hasn’t he… been through enough?” Ryan started to cry. Naya pulled him into a hug and whispered to him. 

“Hey… It’s gonna be alright.” She lifted her head to face me. “Ana, can you… take care of things here? We can’t really focus… right now.” I nodded, and they walked out of the room. 

—— INVESTIGATION START!——

I looked back to the shed, knowing I had to go back inside if I wanted to figure out who murdered Hajime. I concluded that whoever did it was a special kind of sick, to leave Hajime’s body like that. But no matter what the body looked like, I still needed to investigate it further. 

(TW; This gets a bit bloody. If decapitation, dismemberment, or blood bother you, please skip to the part that says — DESCRIPTION — . That part will tell you the basics of what Ana discovers in this section.)

First, I took Hajime’s head out of the bag. His facial expression was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Horror movies try to replicate this feeling- right before you die a horrible death- but it’s different when it’s truly authentic. The back of his head was bloody, as if he’d been bludgeoned by something. I noticed the cut that separated his head from his torso was clean enough to cut all the way through, but the skin was jagged and uneven. I looked around the room for possible murder weapons, until my eyes settled on the chainsaw. The blade fit the bill, and it was dripping with blood. But how did we not hear the chainsaw, or Hajime screaming?

But what if the chainsaw wasn’t the murder weapon, and he was dismembered after death? I unloaded the rest of the bag, and felt a rag sitting at the bottom. When I pulled it out, I noticed that it smelled like chemicals. Did the killer knock him out and then kill him? 

— TRUTH BULLET: Chloroform Rag —

I looked around the shed again. I noticed an axe in the corner. The blade of the axe looked like it had been wiped clean. Could this be…

— TRUTH BULLET: Axe Murder Weapon —

The shed was too overwhelming to stay in for too long. I walked out, being careful not to get any blood on my shoes. I closed the shed door behind me, and walked out of the greenhouse. 

— DESCRIPTION —  
(Ana finds that the murder weapon was an axe. After being knocked out by chloroform, Hajime was hit over the head with the axe. The chainsaw was used after he had died. Continue reading past this point!) 

I walked back down to the cafeteria, only to be met with Ryan and Naya sobbing on a couch. Everyone in the cafeteria was peeking out the doorway, piecing together the situation. Mei looked at me, her eyes asking what happened to Hajime. I looked away, hoping that was enough of an answer. She broke the uncomfortable silence. 

“Where is he?” 

“Upstairs.” I said. “Don’t go if you have a weak stomach.”

Roku, Nick, and Anzu scampered up the stairs. 

I had a good idea why the killer chose Hajime as their victim; Hajime had their secret. I decided to interview a few people and collect alibis before the trial started. I walked to the back of the cafeteria and sat down in front of Emilio, who was still drinking their coffee. 

“So.” I began. “What were you doing all night?” 

“I told you. Skip and I were working on the computer.”

“Did you or Skip leave the library at any point?”

“We used the bathroom a few times. Neither of us were gone for very long though.”

“Did you see anyone or hear anything?”

“Come to think of it, I did hear a faint buzz. It lasted for about thirty minutes, but I think it might’ve been the air purifier.”

“I see. Thank you.” I got up and walked over to Skip’s room. I knocked on the door, and heard footsteps on the other side. He opened the door, a blanket wrapped around him. 

“What’s up? I’m tryn’a sleep…” He said, rubbing his eyes. 

“Sorry. I just need to confirm your alibi.”

“Alibi? Huh? Oh no! Did someone-“

“Yeah. Hajime.”

He looked down at the floor. “Oh. Okay. I was in the library with Emilio last night. I left to go use the bathroom a couple times.”

“Did you hear a buzzing noise at all?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it was, though.”

— TRUTH BULLET: Buzzing Noise —

“Thanks.” I started to walk away before turning around to say; “You might want to put some clothes on. Unless you want to go to the trial in your pajamas.” 

He smiled, and closed the door. I walked out into the lounge, thinking about where to go next. If the buzzing noise they described could be heard on the second floor, it probably took place on the second floor. I scampered up the stairs. I decided to check the pool, because it was closest to the stairs. I opened the door, and scanned into the locker room. But, I was not prepared for what was behind the door to the pool. The water was a slight pink, as if blood found its way to the water. There were streaks of blood on the pool deck, and a box of garbage bags on the bleachers. I concluded that the dismemberment happened here, and the body was moved to the shed. 

— TRUTH BULLET: Dismemberment Location —

— TRUTH BULLET: Moved Body — 

I quickly exited the pool. I couldn’t stand being in there for too long. I ran back down to the lounge, where everyone seemed to have gathered. I was about to tell everyone about the scene at the pool, but an announcement cut me off.

“Time’s Up! Ehehehe! Gather at the elevator, it’s time for a class trial!” MonoMouse said. We walked silently to the elevator, knowing one of our own had betrayed us once again. It’s an awful feeling, loneliness in a group meant to support you.


	10. Chapter 2 Class Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, Discussion of dismemberment, Surgery, Beheading, Knives

— CLASS TRIAL 2 —

Quietly, we all boarded the elevator. The rumbling ride down seemed to get longer every time I boarded it.   
Ryan was still sniffling in Naya’s arms, and Naya was also visibly upset. I couldn’t imagine how they’re feeling right now. I’ve experienced loss before, but never someone I cared about in the way Ryan cared about Hajime. I don’t have bond with anyone here like they did. I wondered if that was a good thing.   
The elevator stopped and its doors opened. The trial room didn’t smell like burned paper and flesh anymore. I wondered what would become of the killer in this trial. I, along with everyone else, made my way to my podium. It was jarring seeing two new portraits. There was one of Kiyo, with a large red X made of pens over her face, and one for Hajime, with an X that looked like it had been written in blood. More than anything, it made me angry. I’ll get justice for Hajime, if it’s the last thing I do. 

— CLASS TRIAL: START! —

“So, where do we start?” Anzu said. 

“S-some of us don’t know what happened. You said not to go upstairs if we had a sensitive stomach, right Ana? Could you, um, explain it…” Miko said, looking down at the floor.

I sighed. “Yeah. Naya, Ryan, and I found Hajime’s body in the shed in the greenhouse. He was- um- dismembered. That’s why I said not to go upstairs. I found an axe and a chainsaw in the shed with the body.”

Skip brushed his hair out of his face for the first time, revealing dark brown eyes. “Did you say dismembered? What the- who here could even be capable of that?” None of us wanted to think about the answer to that question.

“I have a topic.” Roku said. “Why was Hajime in the greenhouse in the first place?” I thought about that for a moment. Given the evidence, there’s an obvious reason why the body was found in the greenhouse. 

— PSYCHE TAXI —

Did the victim go to the greenhouse of their own free will?

No, they were knocked out (Truth Bullet: Chloroform rag)

Where was the victim killed and dismembered?

The pool (Truth Bullet: Dismemberment location)

Where did the killer move the body to?

The greenhouse shed (Truth Bullet: Moved Body)

I’ve got it!

“Hajime was transported to the greenhouse after he died. I found a chloroform rag at the crime scene, so it’s very likely he was knocked out and then killed. 

“True.” Sakura said. “But why was he out of his room in the first place?”

Ryan spoke up as he was drying his tears. “He goes to the pool to practice guitar sometimes. He says the acoustics are good.”

“So he was at the pool? Is that the crime scene?” Anzu said. 

TRUTH BULLET: Dismemberment location 

— CONSENT! —

“Yeah.” I said. “I checked it out during the investigation, and there was blood on the floor and in the water. I found a box of big garbage bags that matched the one Hajime’s body was found in. So he was definitely killed at the pool.” 

Skip piped up. “Could we talk about that buzzing noise Emilio and I heard last night?”

“You guys were together?” Anzu said. “Either there’s two culprits or they both have alibis.”

“Remember, there’s no reward in being an accomplice. Even if the killer survives, you’ll be dead in the dirt! Ehehehe!” MonoMouse said.

“R...ight.” Lana said. “Anyway, you heard a noise? And you didn’t check it out?”

“We assumed it was the air purifier. So we didn’t do anything about it.” Emilio said. 

Miko started to speak. “What…. What if it was… the chainsaw?”

The room fell silent. Ryan burst into tears again. 

“That’s probably correct.” I said quietly.

“Who could do such a horrible thing?” Mei said, starting to tear up.

Emilio spoke. 

“Someone with something to hide.” They said, in a low voice. They looked around the room. “I say we all reveal our secrets. It’d make things easier.”

“Easy for you to say, Mx. I can’t fuckin’ swim! Some of us actually have things to be ashamed of.” Lana said, crossing her arms.

“Alright, I see Lana had mine.” Nick breathed a huge sigh of relief, and I understood why. Emilio eyed him before continuing on. “My secret is that I cannot swim and I’m terrified of water.”

Skip laughed. “That’s not even very embarrassing. Is that the worst they could find on you?”

“I- I use a VPN.” Emilio said. “Anyway, I got Anzu’s secret. Apparently, she’s stolen over $700 dollars from the party supply store she used to work at.”

Anzu looked a bit embarrassed. “S-so what? I needed the money. Hop off my dick. Anyway.” She pulled her letter out from her pocket and read; “Naya insists that most of her jewelry is fake to seem humble, even though all of it’s real.”

Naya went bright red. “That’s- That isn’t true! There’s no way all of this could be real! I come from a very modest family!” A few people stole glances at the giant ruby ring on her finger. “Um, I got Ana’s.” I gulped. She continued on. “Ana does not remember most of their childhood.” A few people looked at me sideways.

“I don’t know, I remember the important stuff, I guess…” I sighed again. “That isn’t important. It’s my turn, right?” A few people nodded. I looked over at Nick, who was mouthing “Please don’t.” Should I make up a new secret to cover for him? I wouldn’t want his relationship with Lana to change. “Um, Nick’s secret is that he keeps a diary.” Nick smiled at me, and then quickly pretended to look embarrassed. 

“That isn’t even embarrassing, what the fuck?!? Half of us are criminals and then the other half are just in touch with their feelings?” Anzu scoffed.

Monomouse laughed quietly for a while, knowing that his real secret could’ve ruined his most important line of support. It’s also interesting that I was able to lie about Nick’s secret. I wonder if anyone else has done the same.

Nick uncrumpled the paper in his hand. “I’ll read the one I got, I guess. It’s Sakura’s.” Sakura covered her face with their hands, and said “Go ahead…”.

Nick read from his paper. “Sakura has never been on a date, or asked someone out. That one’s not even that bad.”

“I guess.” She said, uncovering her face. “I had Ryan’s.” Ryan’s head perked up a little bit, but he seemed to be not paying very close attention. “Ryan has a very weak heart, and gets scared easily.” I thought about this morning, when I found him passed out in the greenhouse. I guess that's why. Naya nudged Ryan, and whispered to him that it was his turn. He took a crumpled paper out of his jacket pocket and read; 

“Mei is deathly allergic to parsley.” 

“It’s not that bad, I know…” Mei said. “I just worried that someone would take advantage of that and try to… y’know…”

“We understand.” Emilio said. You should read yours now.”

“Ah, yeah. It’s Roku’s, actually.” Roku nodded as she began to read. “Despite being a respected exorcist, Roku is not religious at all.”

“So, he’s just an edgelord? Haha!” Anzu laughed.

“No.” Roku said, stone faced. “Spirituality, a belief in a life after our own, is different than the religion taught by the living.” 

“Ah. Okay.” Anzu said, slightly unnerved. Emilio laughed.

“Alright. I received Miko’s secret. Miko-“ Roku began.

“Please don’t! Please! I don’t… want to think about it anymore…” 

“I’m sorry, Miko.” Roku paused. “Miko is responsible for the death of his father.”

The room fell silent. Miko started to cry. “Y-you all… think I’m terrible now, right? But I had to… It’s not like you’d ever understand… It’s okay if you hate me now…” 

I spoke up. “Miko, we don’t hate you. You don’t seem like the type of person who would… do something like that for no reason.” Miko nodded, and slumped into a ball underneath his podium. The room was quiet for a minute, the silence filled only by quiet sobs. Sakura leaned down and whispered something to him. He reached into his pocket and handed her his envelope. She stood back up and opened the envelope. 

“It’s Skip’s.” They said, her eyes looking further down the paper.

“Augh! Please don’t read it… It’s not bad or anything, just trust me on this one!” Skip said.

Sakura looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “Skip is extremely uncomfortable with romantic intimacy.”

Lana looked at Skip, like she understood that feeling. “Hey, Skip.” She said. He looked up, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. “It’s okay to not be into that stuff, and it’s okay if it makes you uncomfortable. You’re not the only one.” 

“Ah… thanks.” He said, fumbling with the paper in his hands. “But this doesn’t make any sense? I have Hajime’s secret, so who’s did he have? Lana and Kanaya are the only ones who haven’t been talked about yet.”

Ryan looked up at the mention of Hajime’s name. “He had Kanaya’s. He told me about it the night we received these envelopes.”

“So then Kanaya has mine?” Lana asked.

“Sure do! Haha.” Kanaya laughed. Lana groaned, knowing the reading of her deepest darkest secret might be spiced up with theatrics. 

“U-uh, anyway! Hajime’s was that he’s blind in one eye, and has terrible vision in the other eye. That doesn’t seem like it’s so bad…” Skip said.

“He hid that because he was afraid that it would make him seem weak.” Ryan said. “But he wasn’t. His vision might not have been that great, but his other senses definitely made up for it. He has- had… fantastic hearing. It’s why his music sounded so good.”

“Ryan, if you don’t mind me asking, what was the secret Hajime received?” I asked. 

“God, how could I forget? I had a suspicion the killer targeted him because he had dirt on them, but I didn’t say anything because I needed evidence.”

I gulped. 

“His secret was that Kanaya used to kill small animals as a child, and enjoyed dismembering them.”

“Bahaha! They make it sound soooo bad! My parents owned a butcher shop, I was just taking after them!” Kanaya said.

“So your most horrible secret is that you were a butcher’s apprentice? Yeah, right. You were totally one of those kids who would pull bugs apart at recess for fun!” Anzu said. 

“Maybe so! But it doesn’t make me suspicious! Not like I’m Little Miss Embezzlement, clown face!” Kanaya said, cackling. 

“Actually, the fact that Hajime had your secret makes you the most suspicious.” I said. And I could summarize how you did it.”

“Go ahead, short stuff. Can’t find anything on me! I live off the grid. The government can’t track me!”

ACT I

The culprit noticed that Hajime had been looking at them differently ever since they received their secrets. They deduced that he had their secret. 

ACT II

First, Hajime was relaxing by the pool because it “has nice acoustics“. In walked our killer with garbage bags and their weapons of choice, one to do the killing and the other to dismember the body. They also brought along something to knock him out. They snuck up behind Hajime with a chloroform rag. They then bashed in his skull to kill him.

ACT III

The killer used a chainsaw to dismember the body. Emilio and Skip heard the buzzing noise from down the hall in the library. They didn’t register it as anything important.

ACT IIII

The pool setting allowed for somewhat easy cleanup, even though they didn’t do a great job cleaning up. Following the dismemberment, the culprit put Hajime’s body into a body bag and quietly moved it into the shed in the greenhouse. 

ACT IIIII

They then went back downstairs to their room while people were waking up and the body was being discovered. They were late to breakfast, to sell the lie that they had overslept. 

Emilio said; “How did we not see Kanaya dragging the body through the hall?”

Skip looked down at the floor. “I closed the door when I got back from the bathroom. I didn’t think anything of it.”

Kanaya went silent for a moment. “Hmm… what about Miko Miko Mi over there? He’s a cold blooded killer too!”

Miko stood up and angrily planted his hands on his podium. “Hajime was one of the nicest people I have ever met! My father was a rotten dirtbag who didn’t care about anyone except his money and his goddamn secretary! I didn’t even wanna do it! I don’t even remember doing it! Stop using me as your scapegoat, Kanaya. I’m tired of it! It’s always my fault, my problem, all the time, but this time I know it isn’t! We all know it was you! You’re so twisted that I bet you did this for fun!” 

“Aha. Ahahaha! Y’know what, little man? YOU’RE RIGHT! I enjoyed every bloody, gory minute of it! Call me twisted if you want, but it doesn’t matter anyway! Feelings are just chemicals after all!”

Ryan spoke up, choking back tears. 

“Have you ever loved anyone, Kanaya? Was there anyone you felt an instant connection to, someone you never wanted to leave your side? Someone you could- god- someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?”

“No? Aha. Waaaait. Don’t tell me you actually loved Ham-jam?” Kanaya said.

“I did.” He said. “I really did. And do you know what I feel now? Grief. Do you know what grief is?”

“Well obviousl-“

“Grief is just love with no place to go.” 

The room was silent, until Ryan spoke up again.

“Just start the fucking vote.”

— AND THE CULPRIT IS: KANAYA SATOU —

“Ehehehe! You got em’, everyone! You’ll get to live another desolate day! Especially you, Ryan. Can’t wait to see you snap! Ehe!” MonoMouse said.

Ryan stared at the mouse angrily, and Naya placed her hand on his shoulder to advise him not to charge. 

“Oh, but before we say goodbye, let’s watch Kanaya’s tape, shall we?”

The TV screen started to roll footage of the same room I remember waking up in not so long ago. In the metal chair sat Kanaya, faced with the same question we saw Kiyo answer a few days ago. 

“So Kanaya, will it be Life, or Death?”

“I… I want to go home. I don’t want to choose.”

“Would you choose to be indecisive at the expense of someone else?”

“No! I don’t want to hurt anyone! I-“

“So you wouldn’t hurt them yourself? Do you care about anyone else?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“We know everyone in your life. Every name you’ve ever taken. Every town you’ve ever lived in. Now I’ll ask one more time, Muika. Life or Death? Or would you like to live up to your name?”

The woman in glasses laughs. The tape cuts off. We all turned to look at Kanaya, who was white as a ghost. 

“Hmph. I guess the woman was right. You really did live up to your name.” Roku said, with the coldest eyes I had ever seen. 

“What? What does Muika mean?” Naya asked. 

Roku turned to look at her. “Six days.” He said. 

I thought about it for a second. Then I realized how long we’ve been trapped here. Six days. 

“IIIIT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!” MonoMouse said. “LET’S GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE GOT!”

— CRYOGENICS: Execution of Muika “Kanaya” Satou, the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist —

(TW: Dissection, Blood, Knives, Beheading)

Kanaya is strapped to a lab table, as robots swarmed the execution stage. The robots had bulgy, black eyes and long hands, which were carrying numerous surgical materials. However, it was clear they didn’t plan on sewing Kanaya back up. They started to cut Kanaya open, as they screamed in pain. Blood quickly began spilling out of their stomach, legs, and arms before another instrument was brought out. It looked like an industrial saw. I quickly understood its purpose as the robots began to saw off Kanaya’s head. They began to scream again, but all of a sudden it stopped and the tension in their body collapsed. The robots placed their head into a cryogenic tube as the curtains closed.

(TW OVER) 

“What the… what the fuck was… I’m gonna be sick…” Mei said, running away from the rest of us. 

Ryan stared at the body for a little while. I walked up to him, and saw that he was crying. 

“I’m going to miss him so much. I… want to say that the execution was brutal. But seeing what they did to Hajime… I can’t say they didn’t deserve it.”

I didn’t want to respond to the last part. I wasn’t sure of what my feelings were either. “Hajime would want you to survive. For him. You can do that.” I said.

Ryan turned to me. “I’m going to do that.”

STUDENTS REMAINING 12/16

CHAPTER 2 END: Jigsaw Puzzles, Jealous Prisoners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The conspiracy theory that Kanaya’s execution is based on is that the bodies of famous people (most commonly talked about is Walt Disney) are being frozen cryogenically to be revived at a later date. Since this is an execution, I used just their head.

**Author's Note:**

> wheew!! talk to me in the discord server at any time, and tell me what you think! https://discord.gg/5mQYdN


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